I cannot overstate how much everyone needs this book in their personal and professional library.

If you cover slavery, emancipation, systemic racism, or any part of African American history in your institution, you need to have this book as a resource, not only for your visitors, but also for you staff.

This book’s clear, concise, and lyrical approach makes an otherwise overwhelming topic feel approachable. More than any other children’s book on the subject that I’ve read, this book encourages the reader to feel deep empathy for the people of the past. It encourages readers (young and old alike) to embrace the duel truth that African American history is full of suffering and survival, trauma and victory. It does not minimize one side of the story to amplify the other, but masterfully holds space for the complexity of the story, in a manner that is accessible even to young children.

Plus, it has the most stunning illustrations by Kadir Nelslon.

I use this book to train educators on what empathetic interpretation looks like and it is my go-to recommendation when asked “how do I interpret slavery for children?”